Collide
by snipp.snapp.snute
Summary: Gracie Jo Dunagan moves to Forks in the hope of escaping her problems. Little does she know fate is about to introduce a whole lot more of them. PaulxOC imprint story.
1. Prologue: Watch Us Run

**Author's Note: ** This takes place post _Breaking Dawn_ and for the most part is unrelated to any canon plot events. I may be somewhat arbitrary with character ages, and obviously Paul will not have imprinted on Rachel. Additionally, Jacob will not have imprinted on Nessie because that's simply not a world I choose to write in. From that I'm sure it's a fairly easy conclusion that I do not own any part of the _Twilight_ series.

**COLLIDE**

**Prologue: Watch Us Run**

"Put 'im in my car Danny…" the redhead muttered, her voice trembling as she stared at her younger brother's unconscious form, drenched in sweat and entirely too pale. Her grip on the rail of her front porch tightened.

"Gracie, ya know I gotta…" Danny began nervously, shifting his eyes away from his girlfriend and towards his bare feet.

"He's sick Danny!" Gracie snapped, cutting him off before he could explain again the importance of bringing Gunnar to Travis Helburn instead of taking him to a hospital. Just the thought of allowing her younger brother anywhere near that man sent a shiver down the young woman's spine. She bit down on her lip realizing that there was only one thing she could do to protect Gunnar. She would have to follow through on the wild idea that had flown through her head the moment her boyfriend had shown up at her door just after dawn, her brother's body draped over his shoulders.

"I'm not fixin' to take 'im to a doctor Danny," she sighed, removing her hand from the rail and flexing it slightly before reaching out to touch the brunette man's arm. "But ya know I gotta take care of 'im. I'm all he's got left in the world! I just wanna take 'im by Charlotte's place." She paused, staring at Danny for his response to her plea.

Though his expression softened in sympathy, he mumbled "I dunno Gracie...Travis, he's real strict about this sorta thing…"

"I'll bring 'im to Travis myself right after!" Gracie interrupted quickly. "I know it's the only way...that Travis and all the rest of y'all are the only ones who can help 'im with this… But I gotta take 'im o'er Charlotte's way first! I gotta see if she can at least get 'im through this fever…"

Danny stared at her in silence a moment before giving in. "All right then…" he whispered, shifting Gunnar onto his back once more and carrying him over to the mint green truck Gracie's grandfather had adopted after its retirement from official use by the Forest Service, Gracie following close behind. "We'll take 'im to Charlotte."

"No!" Gracie snapped, drawing his attention back to her. She hesitated briefly before mumbling, "I don't want ya to come with us…"

Wincing at the flash of pain in her boyfriend's eyes, she whispered, "I know it's not yer fault Dan… I do… I just…I need some time…"

The understanding that settled on his face was even worse than his pained expression had been. "Right then…" Danny breathed, "I'll just put 'im in the car…and then I'll be on my way… Ya can call me when yer ready to go see Travis and until then I'll just…go home…"

"Thank you" Gracie muttered, stepping forward to pull him into a hug after he'd deposited Gunnar in the front passenger's seat. She allowed herself to linger just a little bit longer than she would normally before pulling away and saying, "I love you so much Dan… I don't mean to hurt ya like I am…but Gunner…"

Danny's features softened as he took in her serious expression. "I know Gracie Jo," he whispered, placing a hand on her cheek, "and ya have to know I'm so sorry for everything! I never wanted you or Gunnar any nearer this mess than ya were already 'cause a me."

For half a second her lips twitched into a smile.

"I love you more than anything Gracie Jo," he stated seriously, brushing his lips across her forehead before heading on his way.

Gracie remained in her spot for several minutes, watching until Danny was completely out of sight before she rushed into her house, knowing that time was not on her side this morning.

It took her twenty-three minutes to stuff some clothes and the contents of her grandfather's safe into a duffle bag.

Forty-six minutes later she walked out of First Financial on Main Street, clutching an envelope with every penny she had to her name.

It was another fifty-five minutes before she paused at the first rest stop outside Halifax County and pulled out the roadmap she kept in her dashboard. Unfolding it to the area that showed the Western Coast of the United States, Gracie closed her eyes and dropped her index finger onto the page. She opened her eyes once more and read the name of the town her finger had landed on. With a quick glance at Gunnar's unconscious form, Gracie muttered, "Forks, Washington here we come…"

One hundred and twenty-four minutes for her to leave her entire life behind.

* * *

**Teaser for Chapter One (The Way You Smell Tonight): **

"You uh look a little lost there… Anything I can help you with?" a deep male voice rumbled behind her.

Gracie turned and couldn't help her eyes widening slightly as they trailed up the form of one of the largest men she'd ever seen.

His grin widened as he took in the expression of the tiny redhead standing before him. Extending his hand towards her, he announced, "I'm Seth Clearwater by the way."

* * *

**Another Author's Note: **Thank you for reading! I hope that you enjoyed, but even if you didn't I would very much appreciate a little feedback in the form of a review. Also, future chapters will be quite a bit longer. However, since Gracie and her brother have just left home for Forks, this was a natural breaking point for the prologue.


	2. The Way You Smell Tonight

**COLLIDE**

**Chapter One: The Way You Smell Tonight**

Gracie failed to suppress a yawn as she pulled into the gas station in Forks, Washington. After four days of almost nonstop driving she was exhausted, but there was no time to rest yet. She had to find a place she and Gunnar could stay for the evening. Though his fever had broken during the second day of their trip, he still hadn't woken up, and it would do him a lot of good to finally have a bed to sleep in. Gracie didn't know what she would've done if Danny hadn't told her how this process…

"No…" the redhead muttered as she stepped out of the car, trying to stifle all thoughts of her brother's incapacitation and her former boyfriend. Danny would have long since discovered her deception and departure from South Boston. In all likelihood he'd spent much of the last four days searching for clues as to where she'd gone to disappear, but he wouldn't find anything. That was the whole point of moving all the way across the country to some town she'd never even heard of. She couldn't let Danny or anyone else find Gunnar…

Her thoughts were interrupted as a deep male voice rumbled, "You uh look a little lost there… Anything I can help you with?"

Gracie flushed slightly, realizing that she'd been zoning out in front of her car for several minutes. Turning to face the person who'd pulled her out of her reverie, she couldn't help her eyes widening slightly as they trailed up the form of one of the largest men she'd ever seen.

His grin widened as he took in the expression of the tiny redhead standing before him. Extending his hand towards her, he announced, "I'm Seth Clearwater by the way."

"Gracie Jo Dunagan," the young woman drawled quietly, extending her hand towards him. It was dwarfed by his own during their handshake.

"So can I help you?" Seth repeated, squinting his eyes as he stared at the girl whose accent confirmed his suspicion that she was a long way from home. There was something strange about her, but he couldn't put his finger on what.

Gracie shrugged but explained, "I'm uh fixin' to relocate here but I need a place to stay for the night." Inclining her head towards the gas station's entrance she added, "I was just gonna ask for directions to a motel or somethin'."

Seth's grin widened as he told her, "I'll do you one better than that! If you let me ride into town with you, I'll guide you to the best bed and breakfast in Forks." He didn't share that Daisy's was also the only bed and breakfast in Forks.

Gracie's expression immediately became guarded. "I dunno if that' such a good idea…" she started, but Seth was quick to interrupt her.

"I promise I'm not a serial killer or anything like that," he laughed. Nodding his head towards the giant in the front of her car, he added, "Besides, even if I was, Sleeping Beauty over there looks like he could take me." His lips twitched slightly as he thought of how untrue that statement was, but Gracie Jo didn't need to know that. "Call it small town hospitality," he insisted.

Gracie still wasn't convinced, but after a few minutes she gave in to his look of utter sincerity. "All right then," she shrugged, climbing back in the driver's seat. "Hop in the back…"

Glancing at his surroundings as he settled into the surprisingly spacious rear seat of the truck, Seth was perplexed to see just one duffle sitting in the trunk. "You said you were planning to move here?" he inquired, the faintest trace of skepticism coloring his tone.

"We uh left in a bit of a hurry," Gracie explained, her shoulders tensing. "My uncle's gonna drive our dog and the rest of our stuff up as soon as we get settled."

There was obviously a lot more to the story, but Seth knew better than to press her on it. Asking about where she'd run off from so quickly and why was a good way to get kicked out of her car, and then he'd never figure out what it was that made her so compelling.

Instead he asked, "So why Forks? We're kind of a small town in the middle of nowhere that's only claim to fame is its massive rainfall; it's not too often we get new residents willingly."

Gracie relaxed slightly, knowing she could answer this question with complete honesty. "It must've been fate," she told him, " 'cause I kinda just pulled out a map and decided to go to the first place I pointed."

Seth's eyes widened comically, drawing a soft laugh from the front seat.

"We needed a new start," the redhead continued. "And a person can start o'er anywhere so why not Forks?" After a moment's pause, she added, "And I happen to like small towns and rain."

Seth's booming laughter seemed to shake the whole car.

Fifteen minutes later he had guided Gracie Jo to Daisy's Bed and Breakfast and she'd checked in for the evening. He'd offered to carry her duffle up to her room, earning an amused grin but also a polite thank you, and he stood waiting for Gracie Jo to wake her companion.

Though she had claimed the guy was just tired and a little under the weather, he looked seriously ill. He stumbled slightly as he climbed out of Gracie Jo's truck, and Seth stepped forward to help her catch him.

His eyes widened as he realized exactly why he'd found Gracie Jo so intriguing.

* * *

"Sam!" Seth shouted, bursting through his alpha's front door. "Sam you have to get the pack here! There's something I've got to tell everyone!"

"Does it have to do with how you've been away getting air in my tires more than an hour?" Sam inquired dryly. "Or perhaps why you're back and my truck isn't?"

Seth flushed as Paul and Jared howled in laughter. The glare he sent their way only spurred them on. Turning back to Sam, Seth grunted, "Actually it kind of does, but the whole pack needs to hear this."

Taking in the sixteen-year-old's serious expression, Sam nodded his head towards Jared, silently directing him to go outside and call Embry and Leah in from their patrol. He himself headed towards the phone in his kitchen to call Jake, Quil, Brady, and Collin.

Within twenty minutes, the pack had assembled in his living room, and Emily was hard at work in the kitchen making them all something to eat.

"You gonna explain what this is all about, pup?" Paul sneered, flashing Seth a look of complete irritation. He was probably just annoyed that Seth's demand for a pack meeting was preventing him from finishing the basketball game he and Jared and Sam had been watching when Seth had arrived earlier.

Seth glared at him before turning his attention back towards Sam. Taking a deep breath, he announced, "I met this girl at the gas station…"

He was cut off by loud groans from both Paul and Leah, while the rest of the guys perked up.

"Did you imprint?" Jared asked quietly, glancing at Leah nervously.

"What? No…I" Seth stuttered, his face flushing. "That's not what this is about at all…" he explained, almost wistfully. Gracie Jo was awfully pretty, and the look on Paul's face if Seth had imprinted on someone like her would have been well worth any trouble it brought…

"While I'm sure talking to a girl must have been a monumental experience for you," the man himself jeered, "it's not exactly pack business, pup."

Seth's blush deepened in both embarrassment and anger. "I don't have any problems talking to girls Paul! That's not what this is about at all!"

"So what is it about?" Jake interjected. Seth offered him a small grin, grateful that someone in the room understood the importance of what he had to share.

"Her name's Gracie Jo, and she's not from around here," Seth explained, relieved when no one interrupted him. "I don't know where she came from exactly, but I would guess the South somewhere 'cause her accent sounded sorta Southern to me. There was a guy with her too, but he was pretty much passed out in the car, and she said they were moving here…to Forks, that is…so they could get a fresh start…"

"Your point Seth?" Sam grunted impatiently.

"Right," the younger boy stammered, embarrassed as he realized the pack didn't need to know every detail of his encounter with Gracie Jo. "I uh took her to Daisy's so she could get a room for the night," he stated, "and the whole time there was something about her…something strange…but I couldn't figure out what it was… It wasn't until I was helping her get the guy out of her car to go inside that I realized it was the way she smelled… They both did…"

"Please tell me you told her she smelled funny…" Paul snorted, cruelly amused by the thought of Seth saying something so offensive.

"Shut up Paul," Sam grunted, staring at Seth seriously. "What do you mean 'she smelled' Seth?" he barked. "They weren't leeches, were they?"

"What? Definitely not!" the sixteen-year-old answered quickly. "They didn't smell anything like vampires…"

Sam's brow furrowed in confusion. "So what does it matter what they smelled like then?" he asked.

"Because they didn't smell human either!" Seth proclaimed.

Whatever the younger wolf had expected from his alpha and the rest of the pack after he revealed the fact that had troubled him from the moment he met Gracie Jo Dunagan, it wasn't the complete disinterest that followed this statement.

Paul snorted, before turning to Jared and grumbling, "I told you this would be a complete waste of time.

Sam had raised a brow skeptically, and Brady and Collin were glancing back and forth between their alpha and their best friend in confusion.

Jake looked like he was trying to suppress an amused grin, and it was this reaction that stung Seth the most.

"Seth," his role model spoke up gently, "You're probably just confused…"

"I'm not confused!" Seth interjected with a snarl. He took a deep breath to try and calm down before continuing. "Gracie Jo is a good person…I know she is… But if she isn't human…that could mean trouble for the people here and it's our job to protect them! And if you won't do your jobs and help me figure out what's going on, then I'll do it myself!"

He stormed out without another world, leaving even Leah and Paul in stunned silence.

* * *

It was three days before he found her again. When Sam had caught up to him after he'd stormed out on the pack, the alpha had assigned Seth a full week of extra patrols for the way he'd acted, but Sam had also given him permission to keep an eye on Gracie Jo and her companion.

He'd returned to Daisy's the next day only to be disappointed as he learned that the mysterious redheaded pair had already departed. After that Seth took to hanging around the town proper like a complete stalker, hoping he'd run into Gracie Jo visiting the bank or doing laundry or something.

It was the hardware store where he finally ran into her. Sam had asked him to pick up some paint while he was in Forks because he'd had to repair the wall between his kitchen and living room yet again following another of Paul's outbursts, and after several hours sitting in the middle of town square without so much as a glimpse of Gracie Jo's distinctive red hair, Seth had gotten fed up and decided that picking up the paint was as good a break as anything else.

It must've been fate itself at work because the second he'd pulled into the parking lot at Miller's, he glimpsed her familiar mint green truck.

Seth saw her looking at sheet metal almost as soon as he entered the store, but he paused a moment to grab something off of one of the shelves before heading her way. He didn't want it to seem like he'd been looking for her, even if that's exactly what had happened.

"Hey Gracie Jo!" he greeted the tiny woman enthusiastically.

The sheet metal she'd been inspecting clattered to the floor as she whirled around, her eyes moving frantically across the store until they settled on him.

"I'm so sorry!" Seth apologized, dropping to the floor to grab the metal before she had a chance. "Are you okay? I didn't mean to scare you…" He stepped closer and sniffed surreptitiously to ensure she hadn't cut herself when she dropped the metal.

"I'm fine," she breathed, shrugging off his concern. "It isn't yer fault I startle easily…"

"I am sorry," Seth reiterated, silently wishing for her to take him more seriously.

Her expression softened, and she asked, "So what brings ya here?" hoping he would recognize the question as a gesture towards reconciliation.

"My friend Sam asked me to pick some stuff up for him while I was in town," Seth explained sheepishly, scratching the back of his head.

He cursed mentally as Gracie Jo's eyes darted to the enormous watering can in his hand and then to the weather outside, rainy as ever. Why couldn't he have grabbed anything else?

"Your friend must have a lot of plants," Gracie muttered suspiciously, turning back towards the shelves of sheet metal as if to end the conversation.

"He really does!" Seth insisted, trying to regain the redhead's attention. "And he keeps them all inside…that's why he has to water them all the time even with weather like this… And I'm here for paint too…"

Gracie Jo nodded disinterestedly, inspiring Seth to change tactics. "So what about you? What's got you looking at all this sheet metal?" he asked with a grin.

The redhead was silent for a moment, and he could read in her expression the debate about what to tell him. Finally, she replied, "I need to build a cage…" in a careful tone.

Seth blanched. He certainly hadn't expected that answer…

Giggling softly at his expression, Gracie explained, "I'm not gonna build it myself a'course… I wouldn't even know how to start… Gunnar's gonna do it as soon as he's feelin' better, but he gave me this here list of supplies so that I could pick 'em up since I was gonna be here anyway…"

Seth nodded slowly. "Gunnar's your…boyfriend?" he inquired, saying the last word as if he were testing it out for the first time.

Gracie Jo snorted loudly. "Yer kiddin' right?" she giggled, taking in Seth's expression. "Gunnar's my little brother… Ya didn't see the resemblance?"

Seth broke into a grin immediately. "Well the hair made me think you might be related, but I couldn't get over the fact that you're a pixie and he looks like the Hulk…"

The redheaded woman snorted again. "Ya really aren't one to talk…" she muttered.

Grin widening, Seth decided to try pressing for a little more information. "So why do you need to build a cage?"

Again Gracie Jo was quiet as if trying to decide whether or not he could be trusted with the truth. "I told ya we've got a dog…" she mumbled, her eyes darting to her feet in a tell-tale sign that she'd decided against being honest with this answer. "He's pretty big, so we need a place we can keep 'im when we're both out. It wouldn't due if he were to run all o'er by 'imself…"

Though he was disappointed that Gracie Jo didn't seem any more open with her secrets than she'd been three days prior, Seth saw a perfect opportunity to try and break down her walls. "I don't suppose your brother would want some help building that cage?" he inquired as casually as he could.

Gracie Jo stared at him appraisingly. "I dunno why ya would wanna…" she said shrewdly. "I don't have any money to pay ya…"

"I don't care!" Seth interjected, far too quickly if the suspicion that entered her expression was anything to go by. "I just…" he backtracked, "there's not much to do around here in the summer, and my friends and I have been pretty bored lately… If you let us help you out…at least it would be something to do…"

Gracie Jo's eyes softened ever so slightly, and he took that as his cue to continue. "Besides…what kind of man would I be if I didn't offer to help out a pretty girl in need?"

The redhead snorted loudly. "How old are ya anyway?" she inquired curiously.

"Why?" Seth asked, tilting his head to the side.

" 'Cause ya look older than I am but ya just said ya were still in school and ya talk like yer about fifteen..." Gracie Jo retorted.

"I'm sixteen!" Seth sputtered, clearly affronted by her insinuation that he was younger than his actual age. No one ever thought he was younger than he was thanks to the wolf genes.

The redhead just shrugged, causing his annoyance with her to grow. "What about you? No way you're much older…"

"I'm twenty-two," she drawled. "But Gunnar's yer same age," she added after a moment. "It would be good for him to meet some people his own age so I guess you and yer friends can help out with the cage if that's really what ya wanna do…"

Seth barely heard her, his mind reeling with the information that this tiny woman's beast of a brother, who was as big as any of the guys in the pack, was just sixteen.

* * *

**Teaser for Chapter Two (The Day the Earth Stood Still):**

"Hey…are ya okay there? Ya look like you might be havin' a seizure or somethin'…" the redhead asked hurriedly, placing a delicate hand on his shoulder.

He tried to answer but only succeeded in gaping like a fish as he stared intently into her lovely green eyes. He couldn't remember ever feeling strongly about the color green, but now he was pretty sure it was his favorite color.

His lack of response only seemed to further her concern, and though he never wanted her to worry about anything ever again, he couldn't help the small flutter of joy in his stomach as he realized that she was concerned about _him_.

She was so perfect…

* * *

**Author's Note:** Thank you to all who read, followed, and favorited the Prologue. I hope you enjoyed Chapter One as well! As always whether you loved it, hated it, or were completely ambivalent, I'd love a review! Hope to see you again in Chapter Two when Paul gets his imprint on.


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